Synopsis: In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knew this because James Lowe had told him and James was the cleverest boy at school. But how could time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock was as certain as their golden futures.Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right

Perfect was one of those books I had been waiting for. After
falling madly in love with the writing style of the author of The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I
just couldn't help waiting eagerly for this new release. The plot was
absolutely original: in 1972, two seconds are added to time and this fact
changes so much Byron's life that it influences its whole course.

When I
finally had the book in my greedy hands, I admit I didn't start reading it
right away, afraid to be disappointed by an author whom I loved. One this was
pretty clear from the start: the book is peculiar and it might leave you a bit
perplexed.

Byron's life is overturned by the news that the
govern is going to add to seconds to time and his friend James and he start to
make hypothesis about complots and such. When Byron's mother, Diana, decides to
take a shortcut with her car through a very poor part of the town, everything
changes. The car swerves and in that moment Byron sees his clock ticking
backwards and a girl disappearing after the car has crashed. Her mother goes
away, without noticing anything, but Byron knows and hides this terrible
secret, which will change his life and that of his family forever.

At the same time, we follow the story of Jim, a
fifty-year-old man suffering from OCD, who spend most of his life in a mental
institution and whom, to feel safe, need to look for special numbers and say
hello to things. The link between the two stories, which keep alternating over
each chapter, is not that clear up until the last pages, where the mystery is
solved.

In my opinion, Joyce confirms one again her talent
in walking into different characters' shoes: from the old Harold to the young
Byron, from the perfect housewife and mother Diana to Jim, the adult man with a
psychological disorder. Her stories at not really dramatic, I would define them
as 'bitter' and with a detailed and accurate psychological analysis. Joyce's
talent lays in capturing all the shades of her characters' personalities and
her pen creates a vivid and realistic world. A family with an absent father, a
mother oppressed by conventions and by trying to be perfect, a society ready to
judge… this is a wonderful and sad portray of that period.

It is not an easy reading and it did take me
longer to get into the story than her debut novel. The narration and the psychology
of the characters fascinated me and even Byron's family drama are described in
such a sublime way that, even if I read it slower, it's just impossible not to
appreciate it.

Synopsis: A shoe store where there are prohibited dreams and secret aspirations. An exclusive party and two cruel sisters. A troublemaker as a brother and a lovely doorkeeper as a godmother. If Cinderella were to live in our days, she would probably have to choose between a Prince Charming met via email and a sexy but less romantic neighbor. And she would not accept a shoe with less than 5-inch heels. A romantic comedy to laugh and dreams. Because looking for your soul mate or for the right shoes is not that different. And with a wonderful pair of shoes at your feet, dreams are not impossible.

Lately, I
feel like I need to read some sweet, fun stories. Nothing complicated. It's a
moment of my life which calls for relaxing books, so if you're looking for a
review of some very profound book, then this is not the right place, because
I'm going to talk about a fast, fun read, perfect for a couple of hours to be
spent laughing.

Le scarpe son desideri is a very short novel (or a very
long story, if you prefer), whose protagonist is Cecilia, an unlucky shop
assistant in a designer shoe shop. A modern Cinderella, Cecilia has to face
financial difficulties and love delusions and looks like nothing is going her
way. Not even her friends seem to understand her and let's not talk about the
new, nasty (but fascinating) neighbor. Oh, and let's not even mention the
party, the one organized by the most famous and mysterious shoe designer of the
planet…

These are
the ingredients of this story, a delicious read for romantic women who love
fashion. Cecilia is not our typical sexy and successful girl, but she's not as
goofy as Bridget Jones, either. She's a young woman like us, nice and a bit
messed up, trying to balance her life, with a passion for shoes, which have an
almost philosophical meaning for her.

With a
captivating style, the author creates a lovely story that made me laugh in more
than an occasion (but there are also some lines which made me think). The story
is quite predictable but it didn't bother me, since I found it really nice. Cecilia
was a fun characters and I loved her adventures (towel and high heels!!!). And
yes, I do love romantic stories these days, so I really appreciated it.

Synopsis: It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

I'm a little bit upset because I'm starting
with a negative review, but sometimes (more often than I actually like) it
happens to read a book that disappoints you.

This time I was really very disappointed, maybe
because I read great reviews by my fellow US bloggers and the first Italian
ones were positive, too. Maybe my expectations were a bit too high? I
don't know. Truth is, for me Angelfall was a flat, absolutely
non-convincing reading.

The plot didn't seem so bad: angels, apocalyptic
setting, and a girl ready to do everything to make her family survive… okay,
maybe it wasn't the most original story, but I was captivated. Unfortunately,
after the first 50 pages, I was forced to admit my defeat: the book just wasn't
for me.

Let's start with the protagonist, Penryn, a
17-year-old girl who has to take care of her crazy mother and her disabled
sister, looking for food in abandoned buildings, trying not to attract the
attention of gangs or of the angels. Unfortunately, one day she witnesses a
fight among angels and her sister is taken away. In an attempt to find her
sister, she rescues an angel whose wings have been cut off. Together with
Raffe, the now fallen angel, she will try to reach the place where angels may
have taken her sister. The two of them slowly develop a certain kind of trust
and friendship and try to protect each other.

Obviously you will find obstacles, betrayal,
unexpected twists and everything else, but my major issues with the book were
the characters. I didn't feel anything for Penryn's situations, didn't feel her
anguish, her pain and she didn't appear to be the strong girl she supposed to
be. Even Raffe, the beautiful angel, is absolutely flat and his lines were not
witty. Luckily, there was no 'love at first sight' or I would have put the book
down and not bother finish it. Penryn's crazy mother actually seems interesting
and probably will further develop in the series, but there was so much in the
story and so little was explained that I didn't really care.

I also found the narration wasn't that brilliant,
with cold dialogues, with no feelings in them. There is quite a lot of action,
but overall I went on reading because I wanted to finish the book soon and not
because I felt involved in the events.

One thing that I did like was the angelic
world: a dark, violent and corrupted society, very far from the traditional
view. There was so, so much potential in it, but I felt it wasn't developed
quite enough.

I'm not dead, I swear, and even if I were I
would probably come back as a ghost to haunt you all. I am really, really sorry
for my (way too) looooooooong absence, but 'offline' life took over in some
unexpected ways.

I've had a bookish summer, that I can say. I worked
in a bookstore and I loved every minute of it. But it was a summer job and now
I'm back looking for something and I can assure you it's not easy. Here in
Italy things are not looking up and I'm desperately looking for a job. But yeah,
let's not talk about it or I'll need tons of Kleenex, which is not good, since
I'm already using too much of them with my flu. I'll keep looking and keep my
fingers crossed.

Anyway, I'll be back with reviews on Monday! I've
read so, so many different books this summer and I can't wait to talk about it
and stalk my favourite bloggers out there and have lots of bookish
conversations.

I really hope I'll find you all on Monday, to
help me face the next month, which for me are going to be pretty tough.

And
while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy,
introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a
wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie
is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of
first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex,
drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect
song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline
forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there
comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The
Perks of Being a Wallfloweris a deeply affecting coming-of-age
story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days
known as growing up.

The perks of being a wallflower, or my worst review so far. Sometimes you just
cannot convey how much a book gave you, how much you loved it. I admit that I'm
not a teenager anymore (haven't been a teen for the last… few years) so I really can't relate to the protagonists of the
book, dealing with the problems of such a problematic age.

Hovewer… I couldn't help but love
every single word, every single page, every single scene. The perks of being a wallflower (re-edited in Italy thanks to the
movie) is not a simple book and does not have the 'happily ever after' ending
that many novels have. It's not predictable, does not have a love story like
the one you would expect or a love triangle. It's a complex novel, dealing with
such a honest and straightforward way issues that many teenagers can relate to:
love, friendship, sex, drugs, fear of the change, expectations. It does that
not using a patronizing language or a simple one, but through Charlie's voice,
which is incredibly powerful and believable, reflecting with absolute
perfection Charlie's thoughts.

Charlie's story is similar to that
on many teenagers: he has two older friends, Sam and Patrick and for the first
time, he has to face hangovers, parties, the first approaches to girls and his
first sexual experiences. He's confused and feels like he doesn't belong and,
through letters, he tells us his thoughts, his feelings, everything he does and
would like to does, everything he does without really knowing why till a shocking
final revelation that, although slightly hinted, leaves you speechless.

I have nothing to add to the tons of
words used to describe this little, precious book. The emotions pouring out of
Charlie's words go straight to the heart and are so immediate and disarming
that made me love this story, this book, this protagonist. All the characters
are wonderful, made of lights and shadows, so real and well-depicted. There is
no romanticism, but a take on reality that I find much easier to relate to. Even
if I was a teenager a while ago, this book was so engaging and captivating that
I would recommend it to everybody.

"No. I am as useful as a single
butterfly's wing." She touched the pendant hanging at her throat.
"Beautiful to look upon and worth a comment here or there, but with not
even the ability to take flight."

"I tend to believe, if you indulge me a
moment, that a man can never be disproven of heroism unless he fails when
pushed to perform. Untested, who knows? You, friend-" the word choice was
not lost on Rower- "have only now begun to be pushed. To be tested. Your
potential is yet unglimpsed. There is stuff of legends within you. Of that I am
sure."

And that she wound need to become her own hero
and never again wait on rescue.

Synopsis: In a vastly different
and darker Philadelphia of 1844, steam power has been repressed, war threatens
from deep, dark waters, and one young lady of high social standing is expecting
a surprise at her seventeenth birthday party–but certainly not the one she
gets!

Jordan
Astraea, who has lived out all of her life in Philadelphia’s most exclusive
neighborhood, is preparing to celebrate her birthday with friends, family and
all the extravagance they might muster. The young man who is most often her
dashing companion, Rowen Burchette, has told her a surprise awaits her and her
best friend, Catrina Hollindale, wouldn’t miss this night for all the world!

But storm clouds are
gathering and threatening to do far more than dampen her party plans because
someone in the Astraea household has committed the greatest of social sins by
Harboring a Weather Witch.

You start reading a book and you cannot stop
until you finish it. That's what happened to me with Weather Witch. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions and
discoveries and it soon became addictive. The second I finished reading it I
knew I needed the sequel immediately.

I've been waiting to read this book for so
long… You know the feeling, right? And the gnawing fear that maybe the book
won't live up to your expectations? That's basically how I feel towards my
highly anticipated books.

I got the book. I hesitantly started reading
it. And I knew, without a doubt, that the book was going to be awesome.
Because, well, it is. Philadelphia, witches, steampunk elements, multi-faceted
characters and descriptions so vivid I could almost picture them. And a boy who
is not a hero in the traditional sense of the term.

The story is set in nineteenth-century
Philadelphia. The society is very strict, people have their rank and rank is
the most important thing. Magick is feared; witches are exploited for their
powers but have no rank, no dignity, their lives belong to someone else. Jordan
Astrea is about to celebrate her seventeenth birthday and everything seems
perfect; her family has a high rank, she has a gorgeous friend, Rowan, and her
best friend has given her the most stunning dress for the party. Everything
changes when she's found out to be a Weather Witch, a witch able to call on
storms, and she's taken away. Life has she knows it is over. Bran, a Maker of
witches, tries to make her confess to be a witch, but Jordan swears it's not
true. Torture, starvation, kindness, nothing seems to work to get her to
confess.

In the meantime, Rowan sets off to look for
her; Bran is starting to have doubts about his dreadful job of Making witches,
an escaped Witch, Marion, is back and wants revenge and… No, wait, I am not going to tell you anything else. I
don't want to spoil the pleasure of discovering this story.

The characters surprised me. I kind of got used
to the stunning male hero who falls in love with the beautiful girl. Rowan is
no hero, not in the traditional sense of the term. He knows it, too. He's
good-looking, but he's not perfect either. And, let me tell you, I loved him. I
loved his irony, his moments of weakness, I loved the way he questions himself.
I think there is so much more to him, so much potential yet to be seen. Jordan
is also a great protagonist; although at first I thought she was just a rich,
spoiled girl, I soon found out that she's so much stronger than I originally
envisioned. She's kind and compassionate and not at all the vain girl she may
seem to be. But my favorite character was Bran, the Maker. He has a terrible
task. He has done terrible things. He's merciless, he uses torture and yet… the
way he changes through the story was fascinating.

I loved the writing; it is very different from
Delany's other series, 13 to life, yet
it never fails to capture my attention. It's powerful, evocative, gritty and,
at times, raw. It perfectly depicts what's going on.

Weather Witch has it all: a dark setting, a
compelling and inventive story, flawed characters that will win your heart and a
beautiful, spellbinding prose. With its intense writing and gripping plot, you
won't be able to put the book down!

Just one thing: Shannon!!! I knew you like to
tease us, but…. THAT ENDING! You wanted to kill your poor readers or what? I
stared in disbelief at the last page, thinking 'This has not happened. The book
is not finished yet'. Sigh.

My
favourite quote:

"They are coming and there is naught to be
done for it"

"No. I am as useful as a single
butterfly's wing." She touched the pendant hanging at her throat.
"Beautiful to look upon and worth a comment here or there, but with not
even the ability to take flight."

"I tend to believe, if you indulge me a
moment, that a man can never be disproven of heroism unless he fails when
pushed to perform. Untested, who knows? You, friend-" the word choice was
not lost on Rower- "have only now begun to be pushed. To be tested. Your
potential is yet unglimpsed. There is stuff of legends within you. Of that I am
sure."

And that she would need to become her own hero
and never again wait on rescue.

When there is no one there to guide you And no
one there to help

Your courage is the key

To freeing yourself

GIFTAWAY

Are you curious about Shannon's new book? Do you want to read it? Here is your chance! I'm giving away a copy (INTERNATIONAL entries welcome) to one lucky reader! Just fill this FORM, be a GFC follower, FB fan and Twitter follower and leave a comment saying what you think about the novel and say 'hi' to the wonderful Shannon, here today! Giftaway (sorry for the funny names, Italian law requires it) ends 15th July.

I am so, so extremely happy to be part of this blogtour and have Shannon on my blog today! Welcome in Italy! *fangirl moment on*

1) What was the spark that
ignited the creation of Weather Witch?

Good question! I knew I wanted to do something very
different from the 13 to Life series. Being an author, like being an actor or a
musician, is accompanied by the very real fear that you might be
"typecast" or "pigeonholed"--expected to only produce one
type of thing. I have a database of about forty different novel ideas including
straight historicals, contemporary YAs with no paranormal aspects to them, high
fantasy and science fiction. I would like the option to pursue all of them at
some point, so it was important to me to break out of the "hawt high
school paranormal" niche. I offered a few options and Weather Witch was
what my editor made an immediate offer on. I've always loved storms and ships
and wondered about what people are willing to put each other through to have
the things they want or feel they deserve. I also have a mild obsession with
the importance of transportation and believe whoever controls the
transportation options of the populace controls the entire populace.

2) The main character,
Jordan, seems to be a fragile girl at first but changes a lot during the novel.
Which are the characteristics that you like in a heroine?

Jordan is definitely spoiled and sheltered when our
story starts. Coming from money and power it can be hard for most of us to
immediately relate to her. But she is forced to change--to try and take control
of her own life. I think a heroine is defined by her actions under real stress. I believe, like Jonathan says to Rowen, that
we all have something heroic inside of us but it only shows itself when we're
truly tested. So a hero is someone who chooses to change something (often
drastically) to improve their lot in life (or better yet) that of others.

3) Weather Witch has some
pretty strong scenes in it. Have you had any difficulties writing them? What
was the most difficult scene to write?

Oh, yeah. This was far harder to write than anything
in the 13 TO LIFE series--well, very nearly anything (a few scenes related to
Amy and Max nearly wrecked me). There were times I had to stand up and walk
away--just stop writing for a few minutes to catch my breath. I questioned my
choices in this book (and Stormbringer) a number of times but, the way I write,
I'm not really making the choices--the characters are. And this was the path
they chose, grim as it is at points.

4) I loved the steampunk
elements in the story and the overall edgy tone of the novel. The book is much
darker, grittier than your 13 to Life series. The themes, the atmosphere, the characters and even your
writing style are very different. Was this done on purpose or was it just the
story that turns out to be that way? Are you afraid that this will make some of
your readers turn away from your book?

Thank you. Steampunk, in my mind, needs to be dark and
gritty. The early age of industrialization was a dirty and difficult time in
this country--immigrants were very nearly enslaved throughout the major cities
and in the coal mines, there were still indentured servants (which is how one
of my ancestors started here), and slavery was only starting to be seriously
questioned. Because of the darkness of the setting and the themes (and some of
the action) I felt it was more appropriate to create a little emotional
distance through voice and point of view. Yes, I want readers to think about
everything I bring up in the books, but if they are too uncomfortable with it
(and some people will be) they'll put the book down and lose hope. That is
never my intention. Might I lose some readers? Yes. But I expect I will gain
others who are looking for something deeper and darker than what I offered
previously.

5) What can we expect in the
next books? I fear you will make your characters go

through a lot of bad things
so they can grow and learn, but I can't hide that I am worried for Jordan and
Rowen. Can you tell us a tiny little spoiler? Pretty please?

I'm finishing writing book 3 now. I can tell you that
Stormbringer doesn't get easier for one of our lovebirds, but that, by the end
of Stormbringer (and by the series' end), there is hope. A great deal of hope.
And how do we have hope? Through love and understanding.

6) And now a totally selfish
question: is there any chance we'll get to see this book translated into
Italian?

I'd love to see it translated into Italian (and other
languages) but those decisions are completely out of my hands. My publisher
controls foreign rights and decides what which country should have to pay.
Sometimes they come to an agreement and sometimes they can't.

Oh, I was almost forgetting!
Here I have a couple of questions that every author I interview has to answer (poor
author!)

:)

7) My blog is called The
Loyal Book. Can you tell me your 'loyal book', the one you cannot live without?

There are two books I can't live without: the Bible
and The Giving Tree. Although I'm more spiritual than religious I try to live
by taking into account the principles found in both those books.

8) Quirks and weird habits:
authors are full of them (or so we're told); do you have any? And if so, list
them!

Really I'm quite normal for an
educator-turned-professional-artist-turned-author-and-farmer. I think about
story and art nonstop (that's my quirk--my brain never quits looking for new
tales to tell). Beyond that, I have the attention span of a squirrel on crack
so the idea of me staying still long enough to write long stretches of story
unless I really make myself do it is laughable. But I don't require any things
to start writing or to start devising a story--no touchstones or special music
or snack or location. I do occasionally get crazy planning a story and using
every color of post-it notes you can imagine to do so, and I have written
snatches of story on everything from the backs of envelopes to pieces of an
animal's feed bag, but really...quite normal. ;)Thank you SO MUCH for being here, Shannon! I was so happy to interview you!

Identikit

I'm affected by an illness which makes me read and read and read. I started loving books when I was a little child and never stopped. Thrillers, young adult, contemporary fiction, classic novels, fantasy, chick-it...BRING IT ON!